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MG TD TF 1500 - kingpins and Swivels

We're working on a mystery. A new member of the club (Shark) has a '53 TD that sat in a barn (or maybe beside one) for many ears. We've gotten the car running pretty good but Shark complained that the steering was very stiff. An assumption was made (I know, don't tell me) that the rack was bad or perhaps had been filled with grease instead of 90wt.

Anyway, several years ago we acquired a derelict TD chassis from which we salvaged, among other things, the steering rack and all of the front suspension components. Based on our assumption (I know, don't tell me), we proceeded to remove the old rack in preparation for installing the replacement from the derelict which seems to be in good working order.

We completed the removal only to find that the existing rack and the potential replacement rack both seemed to perform equally well but that the right king pin swivels on Shark's car were almost frozen to the pin. So, from the derelict now instead of the rack we are going to replace the right kingpin/swivel/steering arm assembly. It's at this point that we made several discoveries, to wit:

The swivels are marked either "RH" or "LH" indicating which side they are to go on.
The threads on the kingpins are left hand threads.
The swivels from both sides of the donor car are marked "LH."
The bad frozen swivels from the right hand side of Shark's car are marked "RH" bur they appear to also be left hand threaded.

We've carefully compared the RH and LH kingpin/swivel/steering arm assemblies and except for the LH and RH markings we can find no difference and can see no reason why they are not interchangeable.

Questions:

Why are the threads on the kingpin left hand?
Are the RH and LH swivels really different and, is so, why?
Is there any reason why we can't use the LH kingpin/swivel/steering arm assembly on the right side of Shark's car as they were used on the donor car?
J K Chapin

The only reason I can see for different thread is thread loading. The swivel on the left while turning right needs to be turning UP the thread for a reduced loading to ease steering and vice versa.The reason is that the weight of the car is pushing the swivel up the pin
I don't think it would make a great deal of difference with the massive steering wheel we have
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Well, part of the mystery has been solved. If you look carefully you can see "LH" stamped on the lower swivel and "RH" stamped on the upper swivel. The upper RH swivel has left hand threads and is apparently simply mis-marked. Nonetheless, confusion reigned.

Jud


J K Chapin

Jud That assembly is from the left hand side and LH is stamped on the TOP swivel ( the one with the bumpstop abutment)that means the top swivel is correct. I have a swivel that is not stamped at all.
On assembly check that the fulcrum tube is in the centre of the swivel pin relieved area,If it is not it will bear on the threads and stiffen the steering.
Also the steering arms are handed and not interchangeable L/R
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

This thread was discussed between 12/10/2025 and 13/10/2025

MG TD TF 1500 index

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